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The 20 Best Spas in the United States: Readers' Choice Awards 2015

The devil may be in the details, but so is the secret to truly unwinding. These 20 spas—our readers’ favorites of 2015—have it all covered: gorgeous settings, top-notch treatments, and a calming effect that lasts long after you've turned in your robe.

The 20 Best Spas in the United States: Readers' Choice Awards 2015

The devil may be in the details, but so is the secret to truly unwinding. These 20 spas—our readers’ favorites of 2015—have it all covered: gorgeous settings, top-notch treatments, and a calming effect that lasts long after you've turned in your robe.

This is the only West Coast location to offer treatments from ultra-premium Swiss skincare brand L. Raphael, which specializes in anti-aging oxygen facials. Pre-treatment, hit up the Turkish steam room or redwood sauna; afterward, get groomed at the onsite salon of celebrity colorist Kim Vo.

Say you’ve been skiing, mountain biking, or hiking all day. Fend off soreness with a targeted treatment to relieve overworked muscles and eliminate lactic acid accumulation at this 35,000-square-foot spa, the largest in Utah. Traveling with a preteen? Sign up for a mom-and-daughter facial or manicure.

New York City is one of the most walkable places in the world. Make the most of it—and then recover at the 52-story Trump International Hotel & Tower’s spa, which offers a sole-soothing treatment comprised of a foot scrub, warm paraffin wrap, and massage. Cap it off with a pedicure using long-lasting polishes from nail guru Deborah Lippmann.

Here you’ll find local ingredients on both the juice bar menu and the spa menu. Outdoor treatments tend to be ocean-derived (think seaweed wraps) while those administered in pineapple plantation–inspired spa suites utilize Hawaiian-harvested plants such as passion fruit, ginger, and cacao.

The 21st floor of this 1905 Beaux Arts building is home to a sun terrace, 10 treatment rooms, and three lounges. Book a two-hour treatment—one of the most unique is a rubdown with muslin bags of herbs dipped in warm oil—and gain access to the glass-enclosed swimming pool and fitness center overlooking midtown Manhattan.

Factoring heavily into the spa experience at this historic inn more than 4,000 feet up: Native gemstones, herbs, river rocks, and wood from the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains. And rain showers in the steam chamber mimic the temperate rainforest of the spa’s highlands plateau setting.

Whereas most facials are very hands-on, this Gold Coast spa’s Hydrafacial relies on high-tech tools for exfoliation and extraction. Other treatments at the oceanfront Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa’s wellness hub range from 20 to 80 minutes, so you’ll have plenty of time to soak up the sun (or just get a spray tan).

You’ll feel like you’re more than a mere 20 minutes from Malibu in the landscaped gardens surrounding this 41,000-square-foot spa, complete with an authentic Chinese pagoda, adults-only serenity pool, and 10 cabanas staffed by attendants who supply sunscreen and frozen fruit. Because the Four Seasons is home to the California Health & Longevity Institute, you also have access to acupuncture, postural assessments, metabolic testing, and more.

Belly up to the Scrub Bar, where a mixologist will personalize a blend for you using essential oils and fresh herbs from the rooftop garden. Or just lather up with a locally harvested citrus blend under a seven-head Vichy shower. An onsite salon and spa café that lets you build your own bento box mean you can make a day of it.

Hotel guests don’t need to book a treatment to access the saunas, meditation rooms, or outdoor mountain-view pool, which is open and heated all year. But if you do, opt for a soothing stone massage to undo any tightness incurred from flying down or hiking up the trails at one of the three nearby ski resorts.

It smells like Christmas year-round at this classic coastal Maine retreat. The boutique spa has just five rooms for treatments, all of which begin with a quick consultation so you can customize your organic blueberry facial, reflexology session, or cornmeal body polish.

A spiral staircase leads to this lower-level oasis within the St. Regis Deer Valley at the base of the Wasatch Mountains. Their signature treatment: the 120-minute Bear Dance Ritual, an Ayurvedic (meaning it’s intended to balance your bodily systems) exfoliation and massage based on a tension-relieving Native American tradition.

Creekside treatment tents, two of which have glass floors so you can see the water moving underneath, and deep copper soaking tubs overlooking the Continental Divide give the C Lazy U Ranch’s spa a laidback-luxury feel. Once the temperature dips, treatments take place in a cozy cabin and skew wintery (think moisturizing facials and peppermint salt scrubs).

A hot and cold plunge pool, morning and evening yoga classes, and ski boot-relief massages are a respite from Park City's aggressive slopes. Unwind après ski in front of one of the more than 145 stone fireplaces on the Stein Eriksen property, which is named for the Gold Medal–winning alpine racer.

Opened in 1927, the 45-room Gage Hotel puts you 40 miles from Big Bend National Park. But you don’t have to go there to get your nature fix: Just walk the 27-acre Gage Gardens, then sign up for a mud treatment utilizing sarsaparilla and black silt in the rustic-chic spa.

At this urban sanctuary, you can swim laps in a pool paved with thousands of mosaic tiles, schedule an ashiatsu massage (the therapist delivers deep-tissue pressure using his or her bare feet), or hit up Rachel Zoe’s newest Dreamdry outpost for a blowout or braid.

This Poconos spa resort about 100 miles from New York City and Philadelphia sits on 150 woodland acres and comprises three gardens, a library with a lake-view porch, a soaking pool, three fitness studios, and a fireplace-warmed “whisper lounge.” Our favorite treatment: the muds-and-suds massage capped off by a Dogfish Head cider.

The top spot goes to the 30,000-acre Lodge & Spa at Brush Creek Ranch, which offers yoga on a deck overlooking the Sierra Madre Mountains and in a heated yurt. Trailhead’s organic treatments are inspired by the American West and include a teepee sage cleanse and a massage with warmed basalt river stones.